County Commission Approves Impact Fee Boost To Build New Schools

TAMPA, FL — The Hillsborough County School District will have more funds to accommodate the county's growing school-age population thanks to a vote Wednesday by the Hillsborough County Commission.

County commissioners voted to increase school impact fees to help the school district plan to provide funding to accelerate its plan to build new schools in overcrowded areas.

The new impact fees will give the district $59.4 million annually, an increase of more than $30 million per year. A recent study commissioned by the school district determined the need for 38 new schools in the next 15 years to keep up with the number of new families moving into the area.

Because of the low amount of funding for schools provided by the state, the district may still not have enough funding for all its needs, said Hillsborough County Schools Superintendent Jeff Eakins. In the next five years alone, the district anticipates about 17,000 new students.

School impact fees have not been raised in nearly 15 years. In that time, the southern part of Hillsborough County has experienced a housing boom.

The school impact fees -- fees paid by developers to offset the impact of home construction on the school system -- will double from $4,000 to $8,000, which is in line with neighboring counties.

• Orange County receives $8,784
• Pasco County receives $9,028
• Broward County receives $9,049
• Polk County receives $10,484

The county commission sets the impact fee rate. Developers then pay the one-time fee when a new home is built. Impact fees can only be used to pay for growth, and cannot be used on repairs, maintenance, technology or security for existing schools.

It took the school district three years of collecting impact fees to build its newest high school, Sumner High School at 10650 County Road 672, Riverview, which is set to open in August.

“What happened tonight will allow us to keep up with the growth. We won’t have to wait to build schools, we won’t have overcrowded schools like we experience now, especially in South Hillsborough County," said Eakins moments after the commission voted. "We’ll have the right number of students in the buildings which will only help with student success.